Abstract
This now classic study challenges many stereotypes about women in Mexico City during the long transition from colonial rule to the liberal Reform. The author examines ideological shifts as well as legal status as manifested in laws and legal commentaries, demographic patterns and employment as reflected in censuses and notarial records, and the position of women within marriage as revealed in ecclesiastical divorce cases. The final chapter analyzes the emergence of marianismo, the cult of female spiritual superiority. A special feature of the book is its attention to the lives of lower-class women.